Sunday, November 20, 2011

CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian soldiers and police set fire to protest tents inCairo's Tahrir Square and fired tear gas and rubber bullets in a majorassault Sunday to drive out thousands demanding that the military rulersquickly transfer power to a civilian government. At least seven protesterswere killed and hundreds were injured.

It was the second day of clashes marking a sharp escalation of tensions onEgypt's streets a week before the first elections since the ouster oflongtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak in February. The military tookover the country, promising a swift transition to civilian rule. But thepro-democracy protesters who led the uprising have grown increasinglyangry with the ruling generals, and suspect they are trying to cling topower even after an elected parliament is seated and a new president isvoted in.

The military-backed Cabinet said in a statement that elections set tobegin on Nov. 28 would take place on time and thanked the police for their"restraint," language that is likely to enrage the protesters even more.

"We're not going anywhere," protester Mohammed Radwan said after securityforces tried unsuccessfully to push the crowds out of Tahrir, theepicenter of the uprising. "The mood is good now and people are chantingagain," he added after many of the demonstrators returned.

Two protesters were killed on Saturday, putting the toll for two days ofviolence to nine. The clashes were some of the worst since the uprisingended on Feb. 11.

They were also one of only a few violent confrontations to involve thepolice since the uprising. The black-clad police were a hated symbol ofMubarak's regime and after the uprising, they have largely stayed in thebackground while the military took charge of security.

The military, which took over from Mubarak, has repeatedly pledged to handpower to an elected civilian government, but has yet to set a specificdate. The protests over the past two days have demanded a specific date beset.

According to one timetable floated by the army, the handover will happenafter presidential elections late next year or early in 2013. Theprotesters say this is too long and accuse the military of dragging itsfeet. They want a handover immediately after the end of the staggeredparliamentary elections, which begin on Nov. 28 and end in March.

The protesters' suspicions about the military were fed by a proposalissued by the military-appointed Cabinet last week. It would shield thearmed forces from any civilian oversight and give the generals veto powerover legislation dealing with military affairs.

But other concerns are also feeding the tensions on the street. ManyEgyptians are anxious about what the impending elections will bring.Specifically they worry that stalwarts of Mubarak's ruling party could wina significant number of seats in the next parliament because the militarydid not ban them from running for public office as requested by activists.

The military's failure to issue such a ban has fed widely held suspicionthat the generals are reluctant to dismantle the old regime, partly out ofloyalty to Mubarak, their longtime mentor.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces issued a statement expressing"regret for the events."

The council doesn't intend "to extend the transitional period and will notpermit by any means hindering the process of democratic transition," itsaid a statement read out on state TV.

The violence began Saturday when security forces stormed a sit-in atTahrir Square staged by protesters wounded in clashes during the 18-dayuprising in January and February and frustrated by the slow pace ofbringing those responsible to justice.

The wounded, some on crutches, ran away when police attacked, but somefell down and were beaten by police.

One of those injured on Saturday was dentist Ahmed Hararah, who lost thesight in his right eye on Jan. 28 and now thinks he lost the sight in hisleft eye despite treatment at an eye hospital in Cairo.

The violence resumed Sunday, when police fired tear gas and rubber bulletsto try to clear about 5,000 protesters still in Tahrir. Many chanted"freedom, freedom" as they pelted police with rocks and a white cloud oftear gas hung in the air.

"We have a single demand: The marshal must step down and be replaced by acivilian council," said protester Ahmed Hani, referring to Field MarshalHussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council and Mubarak'slongtime defense minister. "The violence yesterday showed us that Mubarakis still in power," said Hani, who was wounded in the forehead by a rubberbullet.

Many of the protesters had red eyes and coughed incessantly. Some woresurgical masks to ward off the tear gas. A few fainted, overwhelmed by thegas.

Around sundown, an Associated Press reporter in Tahrir said police andtroops briefly chased the protesters out of most of the square. They setat least a dozen of the protesters' tents, along with blankets andbanners, ablaze after nightfall and a pall of black smoke rose over thesquare as the sound of gunshots rang out.

"This is what they (the military) will do if they rule the country," oneprotester screamed while running away from the approaching securityforces.

Protesters initially ran away in panic while being chased by army soldiersand police hitting them with clubs. But they later regrouped at thesouthern entrance of the square next to the famed Egyptian museum andbegan to walk back to the square. Hundreds made their way back, waving thered, white and black Egyptian flags and chanting "Allahu akbar," or God isgreat.

Both sides then began pelting each other with rocks.

Security forces pulled back to the outskirts of the square, where clashescontinued into the night.

A medical official at Cairo's main morgue said at least seven protesterswere killed on Sunday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasnot authorized to talk to reporters.

Doctors at two field hospitals in the square said that among the dead wasone man killed by a blow to his head and another by gunshots.

Rocks, shattered glass and trash covered Tahrir Square and the sidestreets around it. The windows of the main campus of the AmericanUniversity in Cairo, which overlooks the square, were shattered and storeswere shuttered.

"The marshal is Mubarak's dog," read freshly scrawled graffiti in the square.

An Interior Ministry statement said 55 protesters have been arrested sincethe violence began on Saturday and a total of 85 policemen were hurt inclashes. It said some of the protesters were using firearms, firebombs andknifes to attack security forces.

Doctors staffing two field hospitals in the square said they have treatedaround 700 protesters on Sunday. Alaa Mohammed, a doctor, said most ofthose treated suffered breathing problems or wounds caused by rubberbullets.

"The police are targeting the head, not the legs as they normally do,"said Mohammed.

Clashes also took place in the city of Suez east of Cairo, the coastalcity of el-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula, the city of Alexandria and Assiutin southern Egypt.

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This blog is organized and updated autonomously of the disbanded Break the Chains Prisoner Support Network formerly based in Eugene, Oregon. While this online project shares several of the same concerns as the old Break the Chains collective, no formal organization exists behind the current web presence.

"I will never surrender my pride and dignity nor allow the system to 'cut my tongue' and I will always, without fear, speak out against these war crimes and crimes against humanity, no matter if I spend the rest of my life in a prison cage, and draw my last breath of air laying down in this steel bed surrounded by razor-wire fences and cages, and its prison policies that are designed to destroy one's humanity…."